


The Silence of Silence

by valfreyja



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen, Recovery, korra week: day 1, post book 3 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 15:06:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2196396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valfreyja/pseuds/valfreyja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three days after her fight with Zaheer, Korra falls from her bed. When the rest of the Krew comes running into the room to find Korra struggling simply to get herself off the floor, Asami decides that from now own, they have to be Korra's strength when she has none.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Silence of Silence

**Author's Note:**

> (i didn't intend for this to coincide with korra week but here you go. for day one, "alone.")

Asami is curled up on her bed with Pabu when they hear a thud a few rooms down the hall. The three of them, Bolin, Mako, and Asami, are in Asami’s room in Air Temple Island, playing endless pai sho rounds, none of them saying much to each other, neither of them wanting to bring up who isn’t in the room with them. It’s almost three in the morning and, outside, the toadsparrows are starting to cry their hollow, croaking songs. None of the them have left the room since dinner.

Bolin is staring at the board as though memorizing every molecule in every tile. Mako has his head in one hand and the other’s fingers are tapping on the wood floor, fingernails clacking out a nonsensical rhythm. Asami doesn’t feel like she’s even there at all, staring at them from her bed with through one eye, only making moves she can make by stretching out from her bed to the floor. Somehow, and to Bolin’s frustration, she’s in her 3rd winning streak of the night.

But all Asami wants is for Korra to be there, making pai sho more physical and intense than it needs to be. Like she always does when the four of them sneak into Asami’s or Korra’s room on Saturday nights. They don’t always play pai sho, but no matter what they do, Korra and Bolin always manage to get them all sweaty and hyper on sweet grass jelly spritzers.

But even Bolin hasn’t said more than a few words all night.

It’s been three days since they got back from the Earth Kingdom, four days since Korra nearly die—no, since Korra was _hurt_ , almost five since Asami’s heard Korra tell her a silly joke behind someone’s back and laugh like it’s the funniest thing in the world. It’s funny how people can become a part of your lives, a part of you, without you realizing it’s happened at all.

“What was that?” asks Asami, sitting up. She feels the blood rush from her head and immediately wants to curl back up again. Pabu leaps up and runs to the door, his ears perked up as tall as they’ll go.

Mako and Bolin glance at each other, then at Asami.

“Let’s go see—” starts Bolin, but stops when he sees that Mako is already on his feet, almost halfway out the door.

“I think it’s Korra,” he says, his voice halfway monotone, halfway worried.

Asami jumps to her feet as well, ignoring the swirling feeling in her head. She runs behind Bolin, turning left from her room, straight down the hall to the room with the best view of the bay. Mako slides the door open so hard it slams the wall.

“Korra!” he cries, sounding more worried than Asami has ever heard him.

She and Bolin fly into the room behind him, nearly knocking each other over in the rush to get through the door. When she sees Korra, Asami’s hands fly involuntarily to her mouth.

_Oh, Korra_.

Korra is sprawled on the floor, her nightshirt soaked with sweat, hair disarrayed in tangles all over her face. She makes lifting motions with her upper body, a hollow mockery of a push-up. It dawns on Asami that Korra isn’t exercising in a late-night burst of energy. She’s trying to get up, on to her own feet.

“Korra,” says Mako, kneeling next to her. “Are you ok?”

Korra tries to lift herself up again, but all she can manage is to get her head a few inches off the ground. “I—I can’t get up,” she says, as though she disbelieves her own words.

“Here, let me help you,” says Mako. He reaches out towards her but she weakly swats him away.

“No,” she says. “I can do this.” Her face scrunches up in a determined frown and she tries to lift herself up again. She puts all her weight on her elbows and manages to get almost to a sitting position before something gives way and she collapses on to the floor again.

Asami turns to Bolin at the same time he turns to her. She can see the barest sliver of tears beginning to pool under his eyes. Asami shakes her head at him. She doesn’t want to say anything to Bolin in front of Korra but none of them, _absolutely none of them_ can show Korra how much her pain has become _their_ pain as well. Korra— _their_ Korra—is the only one that’s allowed to cry, to curl up in defeat right now. They don’t have that right. Asami decides right then and there that it’s up to the three of them to be Korra’s strength while she heals. Korra won’t be alone in this, even if she wants to be.

Asami kneels down next to Mako. Mako’s face is blank, but Asami knows from the slight pull of his mouth and the creases next to his eyes that he’s holding back more emotions than even he knows.

“Let us help you,” says Asami, offering her hand to Korra.

“Why can’t I do this,” replies Korra, like no one is there, like she’s speaking to herself. She tries to lift herself up but before whatever strength she has fails her again, Asami takes her hand.

Korra collapses back on to the floor anyway, her blue eyes—a muted gray in the dimness of her room—fixed on Asami’s hand. Her gaze is almost vacuous, as though she’s still trapped in her nightmares.  

“Please, Korra,” says Asami. “Don’t push yourself more than you need to.”

“Just take your time, Korra. You don’t need to do everything right now!” interjects Bolin, all trace of sadness replaced with a genuine imitation of his usual bubbliness. He got the hint. Good.

 All Mako does is lightly stroke Korra’s forehead with the back of his fingers, something Asami has seen him do to Korra before, when they thought no one was watching. She didn’t spy on them or anything, nothing like that, but she would always seem to catch the two of them at the wrong time. It’s probably why, until the two of them broke up for good after that nasty business with Korra’s uncle, Asami and Korra would start their conversations off with just a touch of awkwardness.

“Please,” he says. “Let me help.”

Korra turns away from them all, choosing to look at the posts of her bedstand instead. “Fine,” she says, to the floor.

Before Asami can blink, Mako has Korra in his arms. He places her on her bed and tucks her in, pushing her hair back and making sure she has plenty of pillows within arms read. The only sound is the rustling of sheets, softer than the distant rolling of waves onto the island. Korra doesn’t look at any of them.

“There,” Asami says, when Mako steps back to make sure all of Korra is tucked under her comforter. “Do you need anything else?”

Korra says nothing. She rolls onto her side, her back facing them. “No.”

“Do you want one of us to stay?” asks Bolin.

“No.”

“Okay,” says Mako, nodding, ever respectful to what Korra says she wants. “We’ll be right down the hall if you need us.”

The three of them turn to leave. Asami wonders what the three of them are going to do next, how they’re going to make sure they’re always, always strong for Korra. How they’re going to laugh and live when Korra can’t even pick herself off the ground right now. How she’s going to laugh and live when _her best friend_ is a thousand ways to the moon away from laughing and living.

Mako is sliding the door behind them when Korra whispers, “Wait.”

“Yeah, Korra?” asks Asami.

Korra, with the help of pillows, props herself up and finally looks at them. Her eyes turn a watery grey. “Can one of you stay? With me? Just for tonight,” she adds, hastily. And then she looks away again.

“I’ll stay,” say Mako, immediately.

“No, bro,” replies Bolin, “You’ve gotta get to the station early tomorrow. It’s already late. I’ll stay.”

“No,” says Asami, “I’ll stay.” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Korra might need more help than you might be comfortable with.” Besides, she thinks Korra needs someone closer to her than Mako is right now. They’ve been better since a few weeks ago, but not everything is the same between them yet. And while she trusts Bolin, she thinks Bolin is a little too emotional for Korra right now.

The brothers glance at each other and nod in understanding.

“Alright,” says Mako, running a hand through his hair.

“But if you need anything, either of you,” says Bolin, “Get one of us right away.”

Asami smiles. “I will.”

The three bid each other goodnight and Asami steps into Korra’s room again, gently clicking the door behind her. Korra is through at her, but Asami can see that Korra is fully awake now, fully aware that she is where she is, aware of what’s just happened.

“Where do you want me to sit?” Asami asks.

Korra blinks and in the space of a heartbeat her hands are pressed against her face, her lips are quivering, and there are tears spilling everywhere.

“ _Oh, Korra_.” Asami runs to Korra’s side and pulls her against her. Korra buries herself against Asami’s stomach and starts sobbing—gasping, aching sobs—soundlessly. Asami wants to say something to her, to comfort her with a joke or a sweet nothing, but she knows that nothing she says will mean anything to Korra right now. All Asami can do is let Korra cry against her, while she strokes (and gently detangles) Korra’s soft, brown hair, whispering, “shhh, shhh,” like her mother used to do when she was upset over something.

Without realizing it, and without really understanding it, Korra became more than just a friend to Asami. Korra became that person that Asami wanted be, the ever-strong, ever-fighting person who let nothing get to her, nothing stop her. It was around when Future Industries was collapsing around her. Even though Korra went to the hells and back in that fight with Unalaq, she never lost herself, never lost _who_ she was like Asami almost had. Asami saw the newsreels of Korra’s fight and afterwards told herself everyday that’s what Future Industries needed: Korra’s energy, Korra’s strength.

And that’s what Asami did. Became a fraction of what Korra was, of what Korra _is_ , a fraction that probably saved her company, her life. A fraction of her best friend is more than enough for Asami now. Now it’s time to give that strength back. All that and as much strength as is in every bender in the world combined.

When Korra finally stops shaking, finally falls back into an exhausted sleep pressed against Asami’s side sometime around when the dimness of the room begins to lighten, Asami silently promises to Korra that as long as Korra needs someone, _needs Asami_ , she will never be alone.

 

**Author's Note:**

> there's probably like three hundred of these kinds of stories already but i needed to get this out of my system. might write more of this if i feel like it later. also, my first srs bsns korra fic! yay!  
> ...if it stopped making sense at the end, i apologize for that. it's really late and i made myself cry...
> 
> \+ sort of inspired by these sketches by michigopyon on tumblr: http://michigopyon.tumblr.com/post/95561154117


End file.
